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When John MacKay got the call, all he knew was that it was going to be “chaos.”

That’s the only thing that the extras knew about the film — its working title — the day before they were required on set in Vancouver. There were few details as to who or what was involved, or where it was taking place.

“I had no idea what that meant, I had no idea it was a concert or anything,” MacKay, 37, said. “I was just given wardrobe instructions: ‘That’s roughly what you have to dress like.’ And literally that night we found out what it was.”

All MacKay knew was that on Aug. 27, 2012, he was required to dress as a hard-rock fan — dark clothes and jeans, band T-shirt, maybe a hoodie — and show up at an undisclosed location.

That location turned out to be Rogers Arena in Vancouver, where heavy metal superstars Metallica were performing at a concert to be featured in their new Imax 3D film Metallica: Through The Never, which opens today.

The band had already played two concerts the Friday and Saturday prior, concerts which ended making up the bulk of the live footage you’ll see in Through The Never. But the Monday night show was different.

That event, which fans could attend for a mere $5 (with all proceeds going to charity), was less a concert and more a re-shoot opportunity. Director Nimrod Antal (Predators, Kontroll) used the charity evening to re-do missed shots, close-ups and other fictional bits involving roadie character Trip (played by actor Dane Dehaan), who in the movie is sent on a quest that turns supernatural as the band plays a concert marred by technical difficulties.

Upon arriving at Rogers Arena, MacKay had to become a hard-rockin’ Metallica fan, something he admitted he still is not.

“Part of the glory of (being an extra) is to live a fantasy,” MacKay said. “Part of me thought it was kind of cool, and the other part was a little chagrined I was helping them make a movie because I’m still sore over the whole Napster fight.”

But being a good sport and seeing a fun opportunity to work, MacKay banged his head as best he could, switching spots a few times to stand in the background as Dehaan ran through the crowd for a few of the fictional shots.

The weirdest part? The censoring of band T-shirts some of the extras were wearing upon arriving “on set.” (Some for obvious copyright reasons, others for philosophical differences, perhaps?)

“You weren’t allowed to wear a Soundgarden or a Beatles T-shirt — that was coming off,” MacKay said. “They had a list of, like, 15 bands I guess were okay. I guess you could wear a Slayer T-shirt — I forget which ones it was.”

A week later, MacKay was back in character for the shooting of a riot scene that had all the flavour of the 2011 Stanley Cup riot.

“It struck me as bizarre,” MacKay said. “It was just a few blocks away from where the actual Vancouver riot was. They basically overturned a bunch of police cars, there was a car on fire, a horse running down the alley, there was trash everywhere, broken this and that, and everybody was going bananas.

“It was hilarious. That was probably the most fun shoot I’ve been on. I was tearing stuff off cars, throwing s*** around. It was great.”

But while the riot scene is an obvious reminder for Vancouverites of the events that took place in 2011, and while some of the shots in the movie blatantly show BC Place and other Vancouver landmarks, the movie’s fictional storyline takes place in the U.S.

“The cop car was definitely not a Vancouver cop car,” MacKay said.

Asked if he planned to see himself in Imax 3D, MacKay bluntly declined, chuckling.

“I would be interested just to see how that riot scene turned out,” he said. “But I don’t need to see it. In fact, I’ve never seen anything I’ve been an extra in.”

Metallica extra talks about being a ‘fan,’ rioting on Vancouver movie set (with video)

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